Empty Worship

For one of our devotions we were huddled in the attic of one of the buildings in the dark in order to hide from the persecutors who were after us. During this time we began singing and we continued to sing louder and louder until we got to the last song and the doors below us began to slam and people were screaming and trying to find us. And then somebody busted through the attic door and said, "You Christians, why do you take your freedom to worship for granted?" Now of course this was all planned out and was a simulation of something that could actually happen, but it made me think about how we worship. I came to the conclusion that our worship has become empty. There are so many times that we will sing 'praise and worship' songs and not even know what we are saying, but are just singing because it is fun and we like the song. If we actually paid attention to the words that we were singing then we would realize how empty our worship is and how amazing God is. Don't get me wrong I love to sing and to have fun just as much as the next person, but in all things God has called us to worship Him, and to give Him glory and honor. Another thing that is prevalent in our lives is the fact that many of us can be fake or wear masks as others may say. So many of us do this and it is a shame that we do. God has not called us to be perfect people or to live perfect lives. Even Jesus said that we will face trials and tribulations and that we are all sinners saved by the Grace of God. God wants us to be real with Him and with those around us. He doesn't want us to hide what is going on in our lives. He has put other people in our lives in order to help us through our struggles. We have got to quit being fake and to tear off the masks and just be real with each other. Once we do that our worship will no longer be empty. Is your worship empty?

Interpretation?

Again I was talking to some people the other day after our devotion. For part of our devotion we watched one of the Nooma videos by Rob Bell, entitled Dust. These videos are amazing and great and I have enjoyed being exposed to them. Anyways, during part of the discussion they were talking about how different people will 'interpret' the Bible according to their lives. Well I got to thinking about how much I dislike the word 'interpretation'. The reason I do not like to use the word 'interpretation' is because it makes it seem as if the Bible could have many many many different meanings where as it has one meaning and that is one total truth. As I was thinking I decided that the most appropriate word to use in these situations is 'application.' I chose 'application' because the Word of God is truth, but it is applied to peoples lives differently. Therefore, instead of saying that people have different interpretations of the Bible, I feel as if it is better or more appropriate to say that the Word of God is truth but different people have different applications of the Word in their lives. Are you interpreting the Gospel or are you seeking and applying it to your life?

Please bow your heads...

I was talking with some people the other day after one of our devotions and I got to thinking about prayer. I was thinking about how awesome prayer is and that it is cool that God can hear our thoughts and our voices and desires to have conversation with us and wants us to cry out to him. When I got to thinking about it, I was thinking about how before people pray they usually ask others to bow their heads as they go to the Lord in prayer. Well I pondered on this for a while and was thinking why is it that we bow our heads and close our eyes? So many people say to do this because one can concentrate better/easier, but what is the real reason we bow our heads and close our eyes? In order to find this answer we have to go back and think about the days of Jesus and before. When people would praise or pray to Jesus/God they would fall to their knees and bow their heads to honor the Lord to show that they surrender and completely worship Him. This is evident in other religions such as Islam/Muslim. Have you ever thought about the fact that to fall on your knees and to bow in prayer is to show complete surrender and honor to our Lord? It is a shame that we have become so prideful and forgetful that we no longer fall to our knees and cry out to the Lord to show that we surrender to Him. I am just as guilty of this as the next person, but how amazing and uplifting would it be to show God that we surrender to His will and that we fall to our knees and bow our heads to show Him honor and to put ourselves aside so that all the glory and all the praise is His. Are you surrendering?

The summer begins...

So we are about 4 weeks into the summer here at Caswell, and I have to say that it has been absolutely awesome! God has been doing great things, as always, in the lives of the campers and the staffers. There have already been hundreds of decisions made and a couple of those have been of the staff. That is one of the most encouraging things to see. The other night, it was the last night of camp for the campers, the youth were on fire for Christ and it was such an awesome thing to witness. They were so pumped up and were giving all the praise to God and to see such things was so encouraging and uplifting. I wish that everybody could come and see the things that God is doing here. He is continuing to work through and in us and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the summer is going to be like, but I know one thing for sure; God is awesome and the loving grace of Christ is the greatest thing I've ever experienced.